Disinvestment

The 13-year-old disinvestment story of the country does not provide unambiguous results vis-?-vis its objectives. While disinvestment has provided solid results so far as resource generation is concerned, the results in terms of efficiency are mixed. So, there is a need to revisit the subject and plug some of the remaining loopholes in the otherwise robust evolution of disinvestment policy in the country. Objectives: Disinvestment in India was part of the structural reforms package...

NEW DELHI: As part of its disinvestment plans via stake sale in public enterprises during this fiscal, government will sell 15 per cent of its shareholding in Hindustan Copper Ltd, Parliament was informed today. According to budget estimate for 2015-16 fiscal, government targets to garner Rs 69,500 crore through divestment. This will comprise Rs 41,000 crore from disinvestment of central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) and Rs 28,500 crore from strategic divestment. "The...

On the sabotaging of HPCL and BPCL's disinvestment, it is doubtless the prerogative of ruling party members to scrutinise the disinvestment process and weigh pros and cons. But the rationale advanced by senior, dissenting, NDA members is hard to swallow. Their arguments are misleading the nation. There is no threat to national security. Oil was essentially in Shell's hands during each of the past wars (1962, '65 and even '71) but there was no trouble. Are dissenting NDA members concerned that army...

The government is set to give a fresh boost to disinvestment. It plans to sell 10% equity in unlisted, profit-making PSUs. It will also sell equity in listed PSUs where the public holding today is less than 10%. These are welcome moves and should have happened much earlier. Of the 242 PSUs, only 46 are listed at the moment. The proposed move will add another 42 to the list. Selling additional equity in listed PSUs where the public holding is less than 10% is estimated to fetch the...

NEW DELHI: Asked to garner a massive Rs 69,500 crore this fiscal, the Department of Disinvestment has told Finance Ministry it may be able to raise only about Rs 30,000 crore given the volatile market conditions. Terming Rs 30,000 crore as a more "realistic" target, the Department has said that a higher target was becoming "counter-productive" in framing of a strategy for sale of shares due to market volatility. The red flag has been raised even...

NEW DELHI: Facing an uphill target, the Department of Disinvestment (DoD) wants EPFO to invest Rs 6,000 crore in the country's only exchange traded fund of PSU stocks, but the retirement fund body is now keen on investing only Rs 1,000 crore. The Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) had earlier committed to the Finance Ministry that it will start investing from August 1 in the CPSE ETF, a top official said. The ETF...

The Left parties appears to have managed its first signficant victory ? the scrapping of the disinvestment ministry. Although the government did not officially announce the "death" of the ministry, the decision not to name a minister for the department clearly indicated that Mr Manmohan Singh was against a confrontation with his key ally.

KOLKATA: The disinvestment in Shipping Corporation of India was 90 per cent over and expected to be completed by December-January, Shipping Minister Vedprakash Goyal said on Sunday. "The disinvestment process is very much under way and will take another three-four months to be completed," Goyal told reporters here. Discounting any impact of deferment of disinvestment in oil PSUs HPCL and BPCL on SCI divestment, the Minister said "the due diligence is nearly over". "The disinvestment process is very...

BHUBANESWAR: Employees of Nalco at the Navratna company's smelter plant at Angul, mining site and refinery plant at Damanjodi today staged dharna protesting the Centre's decision to sale some stake of the central public sector undertaking. Holding placards, the agitators including those from the officers association sat on a dharna in front of the smelter plant of the company at Angul and shouted slogans demanding withdrawal of the decision. When the company was making regular profit,...

NEW DELHI: The government on Friday ruled out any disinvestment in the aluminium major Nalco. "There is no plan to disinvest government's stake in Nalco," Mines Minister Sis Ram Ola told reporters. In the financial year closing March 31, 2005, the centre had approved a second phase expansion of NALCO at a cost of Rs 4091.51 crore. Nalco's closed the fiscal 2004-05 with its highest-ever net profit of Rs 1222.43 crore, recording an increase of 66 per cent over the previous year's figure of Rs 737.37...

NEW DELHI: The Government today said it is planning to sell stake in Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and will take a final view after completion of inter-ministerial consultation. "The issue regarding disinvestment of BPCL is presently at the inter-ministerial consultation stage. Decision can be taken only after the consultation process is over," Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said in a written reply to a question...

NEW DELHI: Amidst opposition from central trade unions, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is likely to hold a review meeting this week on disinvestment plans for the fiscal. Sources said the meeting with Disinvestment Secretary Aradhana Johri would focus on the PSU stake sale schedule of the fiscal. "It is a review meeting and strategic sales would be discussed. It is basically a strategy meeting," an official said. The government plans to raise Rs...

NEW DELHI: Even as it plans to sell stake in 10 PSUs, including NTPC, Oil India and NALCO, within three years, the government has informed merchant bankers that the completion of the entire process would actually depend on market conditions. The Department of Disinvestment is in the process of appointing merchant bankers for stake sale in 10 state-owned companies -- Oil India, Container Corp, NMDC, MMTC, ITDC, NTPC, Engineers India, BEL, Nalco...

NEW DELHI: Indian companies have raised a staggering Rs 77,023 crore by selling shares through OFS mechanism in a little over three years, with PSUs contributing 82 per cent of the total fund mop-up. The offer for sale (OFS) mechanism has significantly helped the government's disinvestment drive. Between February 2012 and March 2015, 129 companies opted for OFS route to mobilise Rs 77,023 crore, while PSUs alone raked in Rs...

In an interview with ET Now, Mythili Bhusnurmath , Consulting Editor, ET Now, shares her views on markets. Excerpts: ET Now: How have we done so far between April to May. Mythili Bhusnurmath: As far as the external debt position is concerned, India's position has been fairly okay for a considerable period of time. It was the current account deficit that was worrisome a couple of years ago but the external debt position was never very bad. In fact,...

MUMBAI: Partly heeding to the government's request on Offer For Sale route for PSU disinvestment, Sebi today allowed the companies to disclose such plans two banking days prior to the share sale - a move that may lead to most such share sales taking place on Mondays. Currently, the companies are required to give an advance notice two trading days before the OFS, which the government has been saying gives scope for the speculators to beat down the share price of the...

NEW DELHI: The government is looking to push stake sales in smaller state-run companies as part of a revised strategy aimed at meeting its ambitious disinvestment target. Officials said public issues of blue-chip firms such as NTPC and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation may be slipped in between issues of smaller firms such as National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) and SJVN. The disinvestment department, which has approvals for about 20...